Jenn’s CrossFit Journey “Becoming Better”

Here at CrossFit TreeTown we have incredible athletes, but not everyone starts out that way. When people talk with me about starting CrossFit, I quite often hear ” I need to get in-shape before I start coming to CrossFit.” I usually chuckle a bit at this because getting you “in-shape” is what we do here. It’s akin to saying, “I’m too dirty to take a shower”.

From time to time, I ask people to share their CrossFit story with me, and I thought I would share Jenn’s inspirational journey with everyone!! If Jenn would have waited to come to CrossFit until she got “in-shape”, I question whether she ever would have started? We are certainly glad we could help her get “in-shape”.

For reference, I put “in-shape” in quotations because what does that really mean? You can define that in so many ways that I will not even begin to address it, because we all have individual goals and determination of what fitness means. I put “in-shape” in quotations, for the same reason we put the term “fun” in quotations here at TreeTown. We all have our own definition of “fun”, or being “in-shape”. We are training at TreeTown to become better, whatever that means for you. The foundation for becoming “better” here at TreeTown is to work towards becoming fit, healthy and happy individuals!

Jenn points out in her story below, as Arthur Ashe said, it’s the decision to simply “start where you are, use what you have, do what you can.”

-Max

Jenn’s Journey

There are so many benefits to Crossfit that have been written, but the most important are the ones that benefit you as an individual. At Crossfit Treetown, two stand out in my mind and they are bookends. At the beginning, it’s the ability to scale each and every exercise no matter WHAT your fitness level is. At the other end, it’s the fact that you can ALWAYS improve and work towards new goals. The constant thread throughout that journey has been the exceptional training I’ve found in Max Finkbeiner and the trainers at TreeTown, and the amazing community of supportive and fun people who make going to the gym such an enjoyable part of the day.

For me, I started my journey toward health as a very sick, weak and emotionally broken individual. Having my mom die suddenly from preventable illnesses woke me up to the future that lay before me if I didn’t make the necessary changes in my life.

Beginning to restore my health through a fantastic nutrition program, with Dr. Jenn’s Nutrition Response Testing, at Lakeland Chiropractic, I then began crossfit over 2 years ago. I had NEVER been an athlete and had never done any of the things I’d seen in all the crossfit videos. To say I was intimidated would be putting it mildly. I was 44 years old and I could hardly run, I couldn’t squat, jump rope or pick up a 10 pound ball. It was incredibly discouraging at first, but Max wouldn’t let me give up on myself. I had to choose to keep coming and I had to get comfortable with failing and trying again. But finishing each class was accomplishment of its own.

Image: jenn treetown1-2 NO SUCH IMAGE EXISTS IN ASSETS

Nutrition and crossfit go hand in hand and it’s like iron sharpening iron. I became healthy, lost 70 pounds, put on at least 10 pounds of muscle and transformed my body, overcame lifetime asthma, stopped taking 3 medications I’d been on for 30 years and completely overhauled my lifestyle in those two years. It’s gradual progress that has now become a way of life because of the baby steps, support and encouragement.

Something happens to you when you conquer fears and accomplish things you never imagined you could do. You become the confident person that you always wished you could be. That confidence and belief in myself transferred into my job performance, my personal relationships and my community life. You want to do more, to try more and to become MORE. Not perfect, but progress. In 2014, I completed two triathlons for the first time and did my first crossfit competition! Remember that I couldn’t even RUN a driveway without stopping to catch my breath!

Real change is possible and the promise of your best life for yourself and those you love is one decision away. As Arthur Ashe said, it’s the decision to simply “start where you are, use what you have, do what you can.”

It was that decision that changed the path of my life forever and for which I cannot express enough gratitude. I love my Treetown family.